When free agency began for the Boston Bruins on Wednesday afternoon, there were some questions as to what general manager Don Sweeney had up his sleeve. As it turns out, what he had up his sleeve had not much to do with free agency itself.
Instead of looking to make a big splash through a free agent signing in a depleted free agent field, Boston's GM decided to get aggressive through some trades. It shouldn't come as a surprise that he chose to go that route and it should be surprising who he decided to trade.
Boston sent goalie Joonas Korpisalo to the New York Rangers for a draft pick, and Sweeney was able to get the Rangers to take on all of Korpisalo's $3 million. That opens the door for more cap space for the Bruins, and it also opens the door for a prospect to make the jump to the NHL in 2026-27.
Bleacher Report said what all Bruins fans have been saying about Michael DiPietro
Trading Korpisalo is something that was long overdue. He wasn't a bad backup for Jeremy Swayman after being acquired from the Ottawa Senators as part of the Linus Ullmark trade two years ago, but more than anything, Boston needed to clear his cap hit, while also opening a spot for DiPietro. Adam Herman of Bleacher Report said what all Black and Gold fans have been saying about this move before it happened.
"Boston will be thrilled to get out of the contract while collecting a mid-round pick. Michael DiPietro has been one of the best goaltenders in the AHL the last few seasons, and they're frankly lucky he went through waivers last Fall,'' wrote Herman.
It should be noted that Herman gave the Bruins an A+ for the trade. It should have been an A++. If Boston went into camp as is with their goaltending situation, then they would have risked losing DiPietro on waivers if he were to be sent to the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League (AHL). That is not a risk that Sweeney and the Bruins could take. This is something that needed to be done.
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